''Austenland'' is a 2013

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Jerusha Hess Jared Lawrence Hess (born July 18, 1979) and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess ( Demke; born May 12, 1980) are husband-and-wife American filmmakers best known for their work on ''Napoleon Dynamite'' (2004), ''Nacho Libre'' (2006) and '' Gentlemen Broncos ...

. Based on

Shannon Hale Shannon may refer to: People * Shannon (given name) * Shannon (surname) * Shannon (American singer), stage name of singer Shannon Brenda Greene (born 1958) * Shannon (South Korean singer), British-South Korean singer and actress Shannon Arrum ...

's 2007 novel of the same name and produced by author

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series ''Twilight'', which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 differ ...

, it stars

Keri Russell Keri Lynn Russell (born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed the titular character on the drama series '' Felicity'' (1998–2002), which won her a Golden Globe Award, and Elizabeth Jennings on the FX spy thriller series ''The ...

as a single thirty-something obsessed with Jane Austen's 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice'', who travels to a British resort called Austenland, in which the Austen era is recreated.

JJ Feild John Joseph Feild (born 1978) is a British-American film, television and theatre actor. He started his television career in 1999. Feild played Fred Garland in Philip Pullman's ''The Ruby in the Smoke'' and ''The Shadow in the North'' television ...

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

Bret McKenzie Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's c ...

, and Jennifer Coolidge co-star.

Plot

Jane Hayes, an American woman obsessed with Jane Austen – especially Colin Firth's portrayal of

Mr. Darcy Fitzwilliam Darcy Esquire, generally referred to as Mr. Darcy, is one of the two central characters in Jane Austen's 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice''. He is an archetype of the aloof romantic hero, and a romantic interest of Elizabeth Benn ...

in the 1995 BBC adaptation of ''Pride and Prejudice'' – spends her entire savings on a trip to a Jane Austen-themed resort in England. At “Austenland”, guests receive pseudonyms and period costumes, living as ladies of the

Regency era The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, h ...

. The highlight of the resort is guaranteed romance with the male actors, though no touching is allowed. While Jane can only afford the cheapest "copper" package, the other guests have purchased the most expensive "platinum" option. Although she befriends fellow guest Ms. “Elizabeth Charming”, Jane is treated with disdain by the manager, Mrs. Wattlesbrook, who prefers the wealthier guests. Jane and Elizabeth meet their actor-companions – the obsequious Colonel Andrews and the unenthusiastic Mr. Henry Nobley, Mrs. Wattlesbrook's nephew – and “Lady Amelia Heartwright”, another guest. Amelia and Elizabeth flirt openly with Nobley, who is reserved and Jane finds disagreeable. (Their argument mirrors the first meeting of

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circu ...

and Mr. Darcy in '' Pride and Prejudice''). Martin, the resort's chauffeur/stablehand, flirts with Jane. Jealous, Nobley rescues her from walking in the rain. She visits Martin at his quarters; after more flirting and witnessing the birth of a foal, they kiss, and spend the following afternoon together. When another actor, the muscular Captain George East, arrives and flirts with Jane, Martin rebuffs her for "parading around" with the actors. She asks if he is breaking up with her, and he replies that they were never "going steady". Forced to play piano for the group, Jane performs the only song she knows, "

Hot in Herre "Hot in Herre" is a song by American rapper Nelly, released as the first single from his second studio album '' Nellyville'' (2002). It was released on May 7, 2002, by Universal Records. It was written by Nelly, Charles Brown, and the produc ...

", shocking Mrs. Wattlesbrook. On her way to find Martin, Jane is stopped by Nobley, who warns against “cavorting with the servants". Returning to the house, Jane fights off a drunken Mr. Wattlesbrook. Determined to find love by the end of her stay, Jane takes charge of her "story". Elizabeth helps her steal some of Amelia's costumes, and Jane charms the group with her new-found confidence. Mrs. Wattlesbrook discovers Jane's contraband cell phone and prepares to evict her, but Amelia lies to save her. In exchange, Amelia blackmails Jane into helping her and East be alone together. The party rehearses a play (mirroring what the characters did in ''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...

''), and Jane pairs herself with Nobley to allow Amelia time with East. Jane and Nobley bond, and Martin attempts to apologize to her. After the disastrous play, Jane and Nobley sneak off to her room, where he requests a dance during the final ball. At the ball, Nobley confesses his love to Jane. Disillusioned after watching the other actors fulfill their guests' fantasies with fake proclamations of love, she declares that she would rather have something real and leaves, spending the evening with Martin. Departing Austenland, Jane discovers that Amelia is American, and that Nobley had asked Amelia to pretend Jane's phone was hers to prevent Jane being sent away. Mrs. Wattlesbrook reveals that the actor assigned to Jane was not Nobley, but Martin – whose romance with Jane was fully scripted. Angry at being duped and certain she is not the only guest assaulted by Mr. Wattlesbrook, Jane threatens to sue Mrs. Wattlesbrook and shut down Austenland. Martin is sent to the airport to smooth things over with Jane, but Nobley appears, asserting that his own affections were genuine, but Jane dismisses them both. When Nobley tries again to express his feelings, Jane thanks him for being "perfect" and leaves. Back home, Jane clears out her Darcy collection. Nobley arrives, having traveled across the Atlantic to return her sketchpad. He explains that his name truly is Henry Nobley, he is a history professor who simply wanted to experience the Austen era, and that he does love her. Jane finally believes him and they kiss. A mid-credits scene reveals that Elizabeth has bought Austenland and turned it into a theme park, assisted by Colonel Andrews. Mr. Wattlesbrook now works as a garbage picker, Captain East does a strip show to Amelia's delight, Martin is snubbed by the guests, and Jane and Nobley are still very much in love.

Cast

as Jane Hayes *

as Mr. Henry Nobley *

as Martin * Jennifer Coolidge as Elizabeth Charming *

James Callis James Nicholas Callis (born 4 June 1971) is a British actor. He is known for playing Dr. Gaius Baltar in the re-imagined '' Battlestar Galactica'' miniseries and television series, and Bridget Jones's best friend Tom in '' Bridget Jones's Di ...

as Colonel Andrews *

as Mrs. Wattlesbrook *

Georgia King Georgia May King (born 18 November 1986) is a Scottish actress. Early life Born in Edinburgh, King is the daughter of actor Jonathan Hyde and opera singer Isobel Buchanan. Career Although King grew up dreaming of being a director, she got her ...

as Lady Amelia Heartwright * Ricky Whittle as Captain George East *

Rupert Vansittart Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ...

as Mr. Wattlesbrook *

Richard Reid Richard Colvin Reid (born 12 August 1973), also known as the "Shoe Bomber", is the perpetrator of the failed shoe bombing attempt on a transatlantic flight in 2001. Born to a father who was a career criminal, Reid converted to Islam as a young ...

as Nigel

Production

''Austenland'' was filmed in the summer of 2012 at

West Wycombe Park West Wycombe Park is a country house built between 1740 and 1800 near the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England. It was conceived as a pleasure palace for the 18th-century libertine and dilettante Sir Francis Dashwood, 2nd Bar ...

in Buckinghamshire. Rupert Vansittart played Mr. Hurst in the 1995 mini-series.

Release

The film

premiered A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...

at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2013, and its distribution rights were bought by

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) is a specialty film division of Sony Pictures. The company specializes in acquiring and producing films for a wide variety of distribution platforms. History The group became a stand-alone division of ...

soon thereafter for $4 million. It was theatrically released in four theaters in the United States on August 16, 2013. On the weekend of August 30, it went into wider release, showing in 52 theaters.

Reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reported that 32% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 114 reviews, with an

average rating In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

of 4.80/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Despite an intriguing premise and fine performances from a talented cast, ''Austenland'' succumbs to outworn romcom cliches and slapstick gags." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Austenland 2013 romantic comedy films 2013 films British independent films British romantic comedy films American independent films American romantic comedy films Films based on American novels Films based on romance novels Films scored by Ilan Eshkeri Films set in Buckinghamshire Films shot in Buckinghamshire Sony Pictures Classics films Stage 6 Films films Works based on Pride and Prejudice Works about Jane Austen 2013 directorial debut films 2013 independent films Films about fandom 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films